Last minute Young Professionals application - HELP!

[Britta875]

Hi there, I am in a bit of a visa panic and am hoping that someone her has the answers that I have desperately been looking for:

I am currently in Canada on a Working Holiday Visa that expires October 8th (German citizen, 1 year visa). I have been working pretty much since I got here last year in October and have worked my way up into a B classification. I wanted to apply for PR but got rejected and the unfriendly lady at the government hotline told me I would have to have been in my current job for a year to be able to get PR (I have had my current position since March but have been with the company since October)

So I wanted to apply for Young Professionals instead. I have submitted my profile on August 17th. Now I am in the pool and I my time is running out while the website is saying that the chances of getting invited are low since the 2016 pool is closed and the 2017 pool won't open until later this year. There HAS to be something that I am doing wrong, right? If I am already here and working and my company wants to keep me there has to be a way other than waiting for a random pick which might never come.

Please help if you can!

I am super desperate and no one has been giving me clear answers and I can't get a hold of anyone when I try to call the government hotline.

 

[scylla]

Young Professional is your best bet at this point - although of course selection is random and you'll have to hope you get lucky.

The other options is for your employer to obtain an approved LMIA so that you can apply for a closed work permit. Downside of this options is that you don't have enough time (should have started months ago) and your employer might not be willing to go through the process due to the expenses/work involved. Before your employer can even apply for the LMIA - they have to advertise your job for at least a month to prove no Canadian could be found for the role. Next they have to apply for the LMIA - processing often takes 2-4 months. If the LMIA is approved (no guarantee it will be) - you can then apply for a closed work permit.

 

[Britta875]

My employer is not willing to do an LMIA. I have checked with them. It is too expensive for them and too much of an administrative effort.

My problem is that the last round of invitations seems to be already over and I have not received one. I have just read on http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/pools.asp that I would have to have submitted my profile before the last round of invitations has finished which happened on August 11th, I submitted my application on August 17th. I don't understand how there is a gap between pools and what happens to people that fall into that gap.

I have been getting all my paperwork for the PN ready and done all the tests and the assessments and got rejected after I had submitted my profile even though the eligibility test said that I could apply and even though I have the minimum number of points. That is why I started my Young Professionals application so late because I was expecting the PN to work out.

Are you seriously telling me that there is nothing else I can do? No way to stay here if I don't randomly get selected by the system? That just can't be it!

 

[scylla]

What you have right now is an open work permit. Open work permits are only handed out in very limited circumstances - typically you have to be employer sponsored (i.e. LMIA). The fact your employer isn't willing to go through the LMIA process certainly closes one major door for you. Other than getting the YP work permit - your only other real option would be to either receive a nomination from a province for PR - or to apply under Express Entry for PR, receive ITA and have your submitted application accepted. Sounds like you've already explored that and it's a no-go? (FYI - all of these programs require at least one year of full time work experience - typically in a NOC A, B or 0 profession.)

So that really leaves you with the YP program.

 

[Britta875]

I do have more than a year of work experience, just not in Canada. I have started working here full time on October 23rd but not in an NOC A,B or 0 category. I got my B category position in March 2017.

I have been reading up on Provincial Nomination but it seems like that is not an application but part of the PR application so I would not be able to have implied status, is that correct?

I also don't have implied status as long as I haven't received and accepted an invitation to apply for YP, even though I have submitted my profile, do I?

 

[scylla]

Right. None of those circumstances give you implied status. As of now, you have to stop working as soon as your IEC expires.

 

[Britta875]

so I can't apply for the PR even though I have work experience?

 

[scylla]

so I can't apply for the PR even though I have work experience?

You can apply for PR - but it's not just a matter of qualifying - you also have to be selected above others. For Express Entry for example, you probably need 430 points or more to be selected at this time (over other candidates). So you may technically qualify, but if you're sitting at 400 points, you're not going to be picked anytime soon.

 

[Britta875]

I should have more than 450 points according to my calculations but my profile got rejected twice after I submitted it within a couple of hours. When I called them they said it's because I haven't been in my current job for at least a year but I indicated that in my eligibility test so I don't know what the problem is...

 

[scylla]

In that case there's a minimum criteria you must not meet - or you're not filling something out correctly. Do you have at least 1 year of full time work experience in a NOC A, B or 0 role? Have you completed IELTS and also had your education officially assessed?

I would recommend you post this question to the Express Entry section of the forum to see why your profile is being rejected. Note that you cannot count the job you have now as a job offer. So hopefully you haven't given yourself 50 points for that. You can only count your current job as a job offer if your employer has obtained an approved LMIA.